black and yellow argiope

(Argiope aurantia)

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Slideshows
Videos
Sightings

Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy

Conservation Status

Photo by Mark Gullickso

IUCN Red List

not listed

NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

Minnesota

not listed


	Description
	Black and yellow argiope, also called black-and-yellow garden spider, may be the largest web-building spider in the northern United States. The adult female body is ¾″ to 1⅛″ long. The abdomen is egg-shaped and black. There is a vertical row of bold yellow spots on each side of the abdomen and two or three pairs of yellow spots in the middle. The covering (carapace) of the front segment of the spider’s body (cephalothorax) is densely covered with short, silvery hairs. The underside (sternum) is black with a yellow vertical stripe. The legs are ¾″ to 2¾″ long. The front legs are black with black femurs. The other legs are black with yellow femurs. Sometimes there are yellow bands on the legs. There are three claws on each foot. The male is much smaller, ¼″ to ⅜″ long.

	Size
	Female: ¾″ to 1⅛″ long Male: ¼″ to ⅜″ long

	Web
	The web is constructed vertically in a sunny location with a nearby retreat. It is flat, circular, and up to 24″ or more in diameter, with 30 to 50 lines (spokes) radiating from the center. It is decorated with a pair conspicuous, zigzag, vertical lines (stabilimenta), one above and one below the center. The stabilimenta are made of multiple threads of non-sticky silk. The purpose of the stabilimenta is a matter of debate. Some think that because they are highly reflective of ultraviolet light their purpose is to attract insects. Others believe that their purpose is to prevent damage to the web by making it visible to low flying birds. A study in 1998 supports the latter position.

	Similar Species



	Habitat
	Gardens, fields, roadsides


	Biology
	Season
	Large females seen late summer and fall

	Behavior
	Adults are active day and night. The female sits head down in the center of her web, or concealed nearby in a rolled leaf, waiting for prey to be caught in the web.

	Life Cycle
	After mating, the female produces usually 1 to 3, rarely 4, egg sacs and attaches them to her web. Each egg sac is round, papery, up to 1″ in diameter, and contains 300 to 1,400 eggs. The eggs hatch in late summer or fall. The hatchlings overwinter in the egg sac, not leaving it until the spring of the following year. Adults die in the first frost of the fall, having lived just over one year.

	Food
	Large flying insects


	Distribution
			Sources 7, 24, 29, 30, 82.
	8/15/2022

	Occurrence
	Common


	Taxonomy
	Class	Arachnida (arachnids)
	Order	Araneae (spiders)
	Suborder	Araneomorphae (typical spiders)
	Infraorder	Entelegynae (entelegyne spiders)
	Superfamily	Araneoidea (araneoid spiders)
	Family	Araneidae (orbweavers)
	Subfamily	Argiopinae
	Genus	Argiope (garden orbweavers)

	Synonyms


	Common Names
	black and yellow garden spider black and yellow argiope corn spider writing spider yellow garden spider

Glossary

Carapace

On spiders, the hard, upper, shell-like covering of the cephalothorax.

Cephalothorax

The front part of a spider’s body, composed of the head region and the thoracic area fused together. Eyes, legs, and antennae are attached to this part.

Stabilimentum

A decoration of the web of certain orb spiders; thought to attract prey and conceal the spider.


	Visitor Photos

	Share your photo of this arachnid.
			This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption.


	DB

	Argiope Night sighting on our garage door in St Michael, MN We were able to catch a small clip of this unique spider moving about her web. So fun to watch her move about her web. Beautiful spider.


	Alfredo Colon






	Mike Poeppe






	Chevylover




	Dorita




	Tess




	Jill Maher

	Between building and Bush



	Bill Elert

	Spotted hanging next to my garage door above my bushes.



	Brock K.

	Huge yellow/black spider has had a web during last 2 weeks in our Irus plant in the backyard. Looked it up on your site, thank you.


	Sandra Kelly

	my front garden in the hostas





	Lisa W

	taking residence outside my garage



	Diane Richter

	spotted the web and spider on my tomato plant



	Charlene Sennewald

	She was building her web in a tomato bush.



	Bobbi Johnson




	Jennifer Torrini

	in a planter amidst my Dusty Miller and Begonias. Look at that web!



	Gary Holthaus

	beautiful spider



	Melissa

	She’s beautiful!



	Rehnman




	Roger Williamson




	jmpickone

	My back yard in veggie garden.



	LCHB

	Beautilful! I’ve never seen one before.



	Kim Baartman




	Cristina LaPointe

	Found between a phone pole and a plant in a ditch.



	Brianna F.




	Jim Ham

	Found on a sidewalk below some large security lights. Many webs around the lights. While I was taking this photo the warm air inside woke him up.


	Mark Gullickson

	Beautiful! In a small grassland on our farm.


	Roy G.

	In my front yard.



	Anonymous




	Kylie W




	Sarah H.




	luckysharms913@gmail.com




	Theresa Cullett




	Mark

	Garden Spider



	Jim H.




	Rhonda

	This is the third one I’ve seen in less then a week. We have always had free range chickens. This is the first time in 9 years we don’t have them... I think we will be getting them again!!😉


	Ang Marie




	Cathy R

	In my garden



	Amber & Robert

	OMG ITS HUGE!!!!



	Connie Peterson

	"Charlotte" ???





	Birddog

	(castlerockmaterials)



	Jordan M.

	Found on the deck by our front door.



	Kris M.




	Maggie Pace

	Enormous.



	Lei




	Chris Reiter

	Had a large web in the shrub.



	Shane Fox




	Tom Baker







	MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos

Camera


	Slideshows


	Black and Yellow Garden Spider DianesDigitals

	About Copyright DianesDigitals



	Black-and-Yellow Argiope (Argiope aurantia) Andree Reno Sanborn




	Argiope aurantia (Yellow Garden Argiope) Allen Chartier

slideshow


	Visitor Videos

	Share your video of this arachnid.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link.


	Dan W. Andree

	"Yellow Garden Spider" filmed by Dan W Andree Published on Feb 22, 2017

	About A quick and up close look at a common, colorful spider known by several names such as Black and Yellow Garden spider, Golden Orbweaver, zig zag spider and several other names. About an inch in body length - legs not included. Add on the long legs and it can appear to be quite large overall. They typically build their webs in gardens, tall grassy areas etc. where they catch and seem to guard their food (insects). There is written text on this particular spider and what I have come to know about it at the beginning of the video so I will not go into any more detail here. Hope you enjoy it.



	Other Videos


	Garden Spider (Argiope Aurantia) vs. Cicada Killer (Sphecius Speciosus) PLEASE READ INFO IloveSPIDERZ

	About Uploaded on Nov 22, 2008 This is probably the best video I have concerning the Black and Yellow Argiope Spider. The largest garden spider of the northern United States vs. one of the largest wasps in the world. This cicada killer was considerabaly alot larger than the Black and Yellow Argiope Spider, and I have never seen anything like this! Please Enjoy, and Happy Thanksgiving! Best to watch in High qaulity!!! THINGS TO WATCH FOR: -At 3:52, you can see the wasp's huge stinger -From 2:55-end of video, blurriness is GONE!! -From 3:57- 4:40, the spider wraps the wasp for the last time -From 4:40-4:53, you can see the spider biting the wasp with her fangs (better if watched in high qaulity). I will continue posting more wildlife videos. Please feel free to subscribe!



	Female Black and Yellow Argiope Orb Weaver Spider - (Argiope aurantia) Thomas Shahan

	About Uploaded on Nov 22, 2009 She probably won't live much longer - these Argiopes supposedly live only a year and die during the winter - and it's already getting cold here. For more spider photography and videos, head on over to www.ThomasShahan.com



	Argiope Aurantia Wrapping Egg Sack (5) IloveSPIDERZ

	About Uploaded on Feb 8, 2007 This is about three hours after the argiope spider was persistently working on the egg sack, shown in the last video I posted. She is still working on the protective covering of that egg sack. Please subscribe, and thanks for watching!

Camcorder


Visitor Sightings

Report a sighting of this arachnid.
		This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location.



Noelle B 9/9/2023	Location: Alexandria, MN 2nd Grader Noelle found it. 4th Grader Harrison found and ID’d it without Googling it.



Corey C 9/1/2023	Location: Spicer, Mn saw on roadside/curb while biking.



DB 8/27/2023	Location: St Michael, MN Night sighting on our garage door in St Michael, MN. We were able to catch a small clip of this unique spider moving about her web. So fun to watch her move about her web. Beautiful spider.



Ric Johnson 8/22/2023	Location: Brooklyn Center, Mn



Ric Johnson 8/22/2023	Location: Brooklyn Center, Mn



Mike Poeppe 8/20/2023	Location: Houston, MN



Chevylover 9/26/2022	Location: Fairbank Pa Fayette County



Dorita 9/18/2022	Location: Elgin, Illinois



Monique Milton 8/28/2022	Location: Harris, MN In my large flower pot in front of my house.



Lenise 8/22/2022	Location: Plymouth, MN Spotted in garden in large web between milkweed and asparagus fern. One HUGE female. She has a beautiful zig zag string in her web, just as in the pictures. (Hope she's not catching the monarch butterflies that I am growing the milkweed for...).



Alfredo Colon 8/21/2022	Location: Albany, NY



CK August 2022	Location: vegetable garden among caged tomatoes in Laketown Township female and male 2 rows apart



CWO4 Dehler 8/9/2022	Location: Blaine, MN Looked exactly as stated in your description. Located in a south facing flower garden next to the house.



Noah 8/8/2022	Location: Murdock Minnesota



Jill Maher 9/5/2021	Location: Alexandria, Minnesota Between building and Bush



Bill Elert 9/4/2021	Location: Eagan, MN Spotted hanging next to my garage door above my bushes.



David Munson 8/25/2021	Location: Bethel University Frisbee golf course



Robbie 8/17/2021	Location: Elk River Mn. Female about 1-1/4" so cool looking, at the top of a bush with web attached to my deck railing.



Lisa W 8/16/2021	Location: Chanhassen, MN taking residence outside my garage



Sandra Kelly 8/13/2021	Location: Anoka County, City of Fridley my front garden in the hostas



Diane Richter 8/11/2021	Location: Zumbrota, Goodhue Co. Mn. spotted the web and spider on my tomato plant



Charlene Sennewald 8/9/2021	Location: Pine River, MN She was building her web in a tomato bush.



Paul & Debbie 8/9/2021	Location: Lakeville, MN She was making a web on tall prairie grasses.



Brock K. 7/30/2021	Location: Eagan, MN Huge yellow/black spider has had a web during last 2 weeks in our Irus plant in the backyard. Looked it up on your site, thank you.



Jennifer Torrini 7/30/2021	Location: Apple Valley, MN in a planter amidst my Dusty Miller and Begonias. Look at that web!



Gary Holthaus 7/24/2021	Location: Richmond MN beautiful spider



Melissa 9/10/2020	Location: Dodge County MN She’s beautiful!



Jill Hedlund 9/1/2020	Location: Diamond Lake, MN



Rehnman 8/28/2020	Location: Willmar, MN



Roger Williamson 8/20/2020	Location: Minneapolis



jmpickone 8/16/2020	Location: St. Paul, Mn My back yard in veggie garden.



LCHB 8/14/2020	Location: Ramsey Beautilful! I’ve never seen one before.



Mrs.L 8/10/2020	Location: Steven's County, MN I noticed these spiders her last year but just looking them up today.



Kim Baartman 8/6/2020	Location: Tracy Minnesota (Lyon County)



Cristina LaPointe 8/5/2020	Location: Otsego, MN Found between a phone pole and a plant in a ditch.



Kris and Sue Mestad 8/1/2020	Location: Northfield, MN



Brianna F. 7/31/2020	Location: Bloomington, MN



Jim Ham 10/29/2019	Location: St. Paul Downtown Airport Found on a sidewalk below some large security lights. Many webs around the lights. While I was taking this photo the warm air inside woke him up.



Alfredo Colon August 2019	Location: Slinger, Wisconsin



Desirae Christensen 9/28/2019	Location: Apple Valley, MN



Stephanie Stanley 9/25/2019	Location: Morrice, MI



Mark Gullickson 9/22/2019	Location: Polk County / Fertile, MN In a small grassland on our farm.



Roy G. 9/19/2019	Location: Cook County, IL In my front yard.



Anonymous 9/14/2019	Location: Glyndon, MN



Anonymous 9/4/2019	Location: St Paul



Kylie W 8/31/2019	Location: Alexandria, MN



Argiope 8/29/2019	Location: Dakota County, Mn



luckysharms913 @gmail.com 8/28/2019	Location: Pierz, MN



Jenn 8/27/2019	Location: Columbia Heights, MN we have 3 in our yard! They are amazing to watch!



Californiamom78 @hotmail.com 8/27/2019	Location: Saint Paul MN- cathedral hill historic area



Wayne Schaumburg 8/27/2019	Location: Garrison, MN



Sarah H. 8/23/2019	Location: SE Yellow Medicine County, MN



Alfredo Colon 8/22/2019	Location: Woodbury, Minnesota



Tyler 8/22/2019	Location: Crookston, MN daughter spotted it and screamed like a 10 year old girl (she is a 10 year old girl)



Mark 8/22/2019	Location: Circle Pines, Mn Garden Spider



Theresa Cullett 8/21/2019	Location: Co Rd 3, Crow Wing County, Brainerd, Minnesota see large female



Joan August 2019	Location: Sauk Rapids, MN



Jim H. 8/18/2019	Location: Glendorado, MN



Rhonda 8/3/2019	Location: West Concord, MN This is the third one I’ve seen in less then a week. We have always had free range chickens. This is the first time in 9 years we don’t have them... I think we will be getting them again!!😉



Ang Marie 8/3/2019	Location: Melrose, WI



Cathy R 7/30/2019	Location: Columbus, MN In my garden



Amber & Robert 9/11/2018	Location: Litchfield MN OMG ITS HUGE!!!!



Connie Peterson 9/9/2018	Location: Storden, Cottonwood County I found these two spiders in my doorway yesterday. I looked them up and the map shows that Cottonwood county is not marked as having them. Are they rare here?

John Valo 9/9/2018	Black and yellow argiope have been reported in two neighboring counties, so it is not surprising that they are found in Cottonwood County as well. Cottonwood County is now included on the distribution map.



Birddog 9/5/2018	Location: Dakota County (castlerockmaterials)



Jordan M. 8/28/2018	Location: Mantorville, MN Found on the deck by our front door.



Kris M. 8/26/2018	Location: Burnsville, MN



Anne 8/26/2018	Location: River Falls, WI Has a web in one of our shrubs.



Maggie Pace 8/12/2018	Location: Lake Susan Hills, web spun off of a residential wooden deck, Chanhassen, MN Enormous.



Lei 8/11/2018	Location: Ham Lake



M. Johnson 8/13/2018	Location: Garden in St Anthony I was doing some deadheading of plants in my garden, I looked up and there it was twelve inches from my face. Beautiful and a little startling, I had never seen one before.



Pat Wessman 8/11/2018	Location: Silverwood Park, New Brighton, MN



Chris Reiter 8/10/2018	Location: Taylor Falls Had a large web in the shrub.



Sarah Rademacher 8/1/2018	Location: Pioneer Trail and Settlement Drive (Settler’s Ridge), Eden Prairie, Mn Found lying in wait in some day lilies



Shane Fox 7/30/2018	Location: St. Paul, MN



MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings

Burnsville, MN Oronoco Prairie SNA